JMU crushed by ODU
Dukes lose star player, Juwann James, to knee injury
Posted on January 17, 2008
And just like that JMU basketball’s turnaround season could be anything but.
Forget about the 27-point loss and the woeful 30 percent shooting at Old Dominion Wednesday night. When junior forward Juwann James went down in the first half grabbing his right knee, the Dukes (10-6 overall, 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association) found themselves in a whole different place.
Since James first began donning purple and gold trim in 2005-06 he has been the face of the program, drawing double-teams on nearly every touch on his way to a --- scoring average and --- rebounding average.
The preliminary diagnosis, following the game, was a “sprained knee… [with] slight swelling,” according to JMU coach Dean Keener. It looked worse as James had to be helped off the floor by two teammates.
“Juwann was doing a great job on the offensive boards,” Keener said. “You know he had five offensive rebounds in 17 minutes in the first half.”
Madison’s lackluster performance after its leader went down could be the beginning of a downward spiral.
Although the 6-foot-6 James is short for the power forward position, he has typically been tagged with defending the opposition’s best post threat.
Without him in the game, ODU had a clear advantage down low with sophomore Gerald Lee and freshman Frank Hassell.
“Yeah [Hassell] was good,” Keener said. “Obviously we know Lee is really, really good. He’s got great footwork. He can go either way and he lets the game come to him.”
Lee had scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the first half, but with James on the floor he was forced to work for every bucket as JMU struggled in the first 20 minutes, trailing 33-23.
Just 2 minutes and 27 seconds into the second half — after JMU guard Abdulai Jalloh had finally hit on his ninth 3-point field-goal attempt — Lee answered right back with a 3-point play of his own, as he was fouled on a layup by the Dukes’ senior forward Terrence Carter.
Keener had no other option but to play zone in his starting forward’s absence and the Dukes scrambled all over the floor trying to defend the perimeter.
The Monarchs (9-9, 4-2) shot 9-for-17 from the 3-point line, five coming in their dominant second half effort.
“I think that our assist total and a lot of our 3-point shooting percentage came from unselfishness, just creating good shots,” ODU coach Blaine Taylor said. “We were opportunistic and shared the ball pretty well.”
Offensively, the Dukes struggled just as much. Freshman guard Heiden Ratner was the only JMU player to score in double-figures finishing with 14 points. Jalloh, the Dukes leading scorer, shot 3-for-17 including 1-for-9 from beyond-the-arc to tie his season-low of seven points.
“We were just settling for 3s again,” JMU sophomore guard Pierre Curtis said. “Last game we were getting inside; this game we were settling for 3s and not being aggressive against the zone.”
Ironically, Lee was the only Monarch to score in double-figures, but received help from nine teammates, all with at least four points.
JMU hosts George Mason Saturday night and has two days to regroup and re-scheme with the likelihood that James will not play. That could mean similar trouble as Mason has 2007 All-CAA performer Will Thomas in the post, but an array of guards that can shoot from the outside including senior Folarin Campbell and junior Dre Smith.
Smith was 7-for-8 from outside and scored a career-high 26 points in the two teams last meeting — a 73-62 Mason win in the first round of last year’s CAA tournament.
Saturday’s game will start at 8 p.m. and be televised on Comcast Sportsnet.
